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K–ε compressible 3D neutral fluid turbulence modelling of the effect of toroidal cavities on flame-front propagation in the gas-blanket regime for tokamak divertors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1997

GEORGE VAHALA ,
LINDA VAHALA ,
JOSEPH MORRISON ,
SERGEI KRASHENINNIKOV  and
DIETER SIGMAR
GEORGE VAHALA
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187, USA, and Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering, NASA Langley, Hampton, Virginia 23666, USA
LINDA VAHALA
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23527, USA
JOSEPH MORRISON
Affiliation:
AS&M, Hampton, Virginia 23666, USA
SERGEI KRASHENINNIKOV
Affiliation:
Plasma Fusion Center, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
DIETER SIGMAR
Affiliation:
Plasma Fusion Center, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
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Abstract

Recent experiments and 2D laminar plasma–fluid simulations have indicated that plasma detachment from the divertor plate is strongly tied to plasma recombination. With plasma recombination, a neutral gas blanket will form between the divertor plate and the plasma frame front. Because of plasma-neutral coupling, the plasma flow along the field lines will drive neutral gas flow with Mach number [ges ]1 and Reynolds number [ges ]1000. A compressible set of conservation and transport equations are solved with 2D mean toroidal flow and 3D turbulence effects over various toroidal cavity geometries. The radial structure of the temperature profile is determined for both turbulent and laminar flow as the flame front propagates down the toroidal cavity. Quantitative results are obtained for the increased heat transfer to the toroidal walls due to turbulence as well as radial profiles for the transport coefficients. It is found that heat loads to the toroidal walls can be increased by factors of 5–20 over that for laminar flow for the cavity geometries studied here. This increased heat transfer to the toroidal walls will lead to decreased levels of heat flux impinging on the divertor plate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , January 1997 , pp. 155 - 173
Copyright
1997 Cambridge University Press

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